Finally went on Saturday, since my schedule has kept me away, but I decided to take a day or so to reflect.
Arrived at 10AM and the park was already pretty crowded so I figured it was only going to get worse. Two coasters down, AC and Griffon so that was a bit of a bummer, since it made the lines for everything else that much longer. Decor in Ripper Row did not feel on par with previous years and of course the Brit rock soundtrack takes you right out of any theming that is there.
I was disappointed to see the pumpkins gone from Heatherdowns and I don't like the fact that there is a large section right near the beginning with virtually no theming. Killarney was pretty but I miss the monsters on display. That said, I do like their efforts here since this has been a somewhat dead area in recent years. The "werewolf reserve" was a nice idea but with no actors, it's essentially a dead zone.
Decor in Fools Court, was essentially nonexistent and they blocked the skull-pile-throne with a DJ booth. Axe Alley was themed okay, however the spider bridge seemed a little cheap this year. I'm 99% certain it is the same as last year but something about it looked off. Vampire Point had a few new additions but I miss the vampires standing at the arch. Festa seemed to be the least themed area of all which I understand but I feel like in years past you could still tell it was Howl-o-Scream.
The bridge was decent, and Garden of Souls had some good theming. At night, things seemed to get a little better just because of the fog, lights and music, but I don't feel like they put much effort into atmosphere this year.
Jack is Back was a fun show, but it is way too family friendly. Perhaps that is the direction they want to take HOS or maybe BGW is just trying to hard to please everyone. Monster Stomp was good but it was missing a certain amount of energy and the performers seemed a bit off or out of sync. I'm going to assume this was just a bad night for them and I know they are very talented. Didn't get to see Night Beats but the sign looked like there may be some new routines.
Only made it into two houses - Vault and Lumberhacks. Both were well staffed and a lot of fun. I really hate to think we will probably lose both next year.
The only scare zones that really stood out were Vampire Point and Circo. VP has gotten stale over the years but the actors were really selling it on Saturday. I think the best Circo days were year one and two but it was well staffed this year and they were really giving it their all.
I only saw one actor in Garden of Souls which was disappointing. The vikings were trying but they have never really done anything for me. Fools Court was fair but nothing spectacular and Ripper Row was just so crowded it was hard to see anything.
Overall this was probably my worst experience at HOS and sadly it may be the only time I get to go this season. I do think it was mostly do to the crowds. When we left Monster Stomp at 5:30 they had essentially blocked off traffic to Heatherdowns, so there was a giant cluster of people waiting to get in. I have never seen it bottleneck like that before. A similar situation happened in Festhaus when we were eating. Not sure if the park reached capacity on Saturday but it was packed.
All in all, I still enjoyed the event but I much prefer Thursdays and Sundays to what we got on Saturday.
Arrived at 10AM and the park was already pretty crowded so I figured it was only going to get worse. Two coasters down, AC and Griffon so that was a bit of a bummer, since it made the lines for everything else that much longer. Decor in Ripper Row did not feel on par with previous years and of course the Brit rock soundtrack takes you right out of any theming that is there.
I was disappointed to see the pumpkins gone from Heatherdowns and I don't like the fact that there is a large section right near the beginning with virtually no theming. Killarney was pretty but I miss the monsters on display. That said, I do like their efforts here since this has been a somewhat dead area in recent years. The "werewolf reserve" was a nice idea but with no actors, it's essentially a dead zone.
Decor in Fools Court, was essentially nonexistent and they blocked the skull-pile-throne with a DJ booth. Axe Alley was themed okay, however the spider bridge seemed a little cheap this year. I'm 99% certain it is the same as last year but something about it looked off. Vampire Point had a few new additions but I miss the vampires standing at the arch. Festa seemed to be the least themed area of all which I understand but I feel like in years past you could still tell it was Howl-o-Scream.
The bridge was decent, and Garden of Souls had some good theming. At night, things seemed to get a little better just because of the fog, lights and music, but I don't feel like they put much effort into atmosphere this year.
Jack is Back was a fun show, but it is way too family friendly. Perhaps that is the direction they want to take HOS or maybe BGW is just trying to hard to please everyone. Monster Stomp was good but it was missing a certain amount of energy and the performers seemed a bit off or out of sync. I'm going to assume this was just a bad night for them and I know they are very talented. Didn't get to see Night Beats but the sign looked like there may be some new routines.
Only made it into two houses - Vault and Lumberhacks. Both were well staffed and a lot of fun. I really hate to think we will probably lose both next year.
The only scare zones that really stood out were Vampire Point and Circo. VP has gotten stale over the years but the actors were really selling it on Saturday. I think the best Circo days were year one and two but it was well staffed this year and they were really giving it their all.
I only saw one actor in Garden of Souls which was disappointing. The vikings were trying but they have never really done anything for me. Fools Court was fair but nothing spectacular and Ripper Row was just so crowded it was hard to see anything.
Overall this was probably my worst experience at HOS and sadly it may be the only time I get to go this season. I do think it was mostly do to the crowds. When we left Monster Stomp at 5:30 they had essentially blocked off traffic to Heatherdowns, so there was a giant cluster of people waiting to get in. I have never seen it bottleneck like that before. A similar situation happened in Festhaus when we were eating. Not sure if the park reached capacity on Saturday but it was packed.
All in all, I still enjoyed the event but I much prefer Thursdays and Sundays to what we got on Saturday.
